Brough, Robert BTHE LIFE OF SIR JOHN FALSTAFF London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1857. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1857. First edition. Trifling rub to upper joint, else very fine and bright. Slipcase a might sun faded. First edition. Imperial 8vo. xx, 196p. Illustrated by Cruikshank with a woodcut after the title and twenty brilliantly hand-colored plates. Bound by Bayntun in full red morocco with marbled endpapers, a.e.g., the spine with gilt titles and gilt framed panels, the upper cover with a series of geometric gilt frames and a very large central figure of Falstaff done in ten colors of onlays, dentelle frames with corner pieces. Original cloth covers with gilt vignette and facsimile of Cruikshank&#39;s signature bound in rear. Housed in cloth slipcase. A stunning example of hand-colored Cruikshank etchings and Bayntun onlaid bindings.& Cohn 96.

ROCKEFELLER, JOHN D.Ambrotype Portrait of John D. Rockefeller Cleveland, Ohio: Wiliam C. North, c. 1857-1858 - ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS OF THE 19TH CENTURY. Sixth-plate ambrotype (3 3&#8260;4 x 3 1&#8260;4 in.), with Rockefeller?s cheeks hand-tinted. Oval brass mat and ornate brass retainers in decorated thermoplastic case with hidden single clasp; decorated red velvet lining. Old manuscript note reading ?J. D. Rockefeller Born July 8, 1839 at Richford, N. Y.? Engraved on the retainer is the photographer?s imprint: ?Wm. C. North Cleveland, O.? Minor specking to painted black areas; lacking seal; one large chip and several minor chips to case. Very good condition. This famous portrait of John D. Rockefeller is the earliest known photograph of the greatest titan of American business and industry. When he sat for this photograph in 1857 or 1858, the 18-year-old Rockefeller was working as a bookkeeper in Cleveland. He began his own business in 1859, built his first oil refinery in 1863, and established Standard Oil in 1870, revolutionizing the nascent petroleum industry. Rockefeller was the wealthiest man in history and the first great modern philanthropist. As a percentage of the United States economy, no other American fortune has ever come close to that of Rockefeller. Apart from the immense fortune his amassed (perhaps $1 billion at the turn of the century) and the national economy he helped fuel with Standard Oil and its descendants, Rockefeller established the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and the Rockefeller Foundation, which for almost a century have been leaders in their fields. ?The rise of the Standard Oil men to great wealth was not from poverty. It was not meteor-like, but accomplished over a quarter of a century by courageous venturing in a field so risky that most large capitalists avoided it, by arduous labors, and by more sagacious and farsighted planning than had been applied to any other American industry? (Allan Nevins). Rockefeller chose this photograph to be the frontispiece to his autobiography, Random Reminiscences of Men and Events, published in 1909 when he seventy. In that book the portrait appeared with the caption: ?Mr. John D. Rockefeller at the age of eighteen.? The Rockefeller Archive Center holds a copy of this image printed on paper (presumably created when the ambrotype was unsealed in order to create the frontispiece for Random Reminiscences). This is one of the most valuable 19th-century American photographic portraits and a centerpiece of any collection of capitalism. Provenance: Rockefeller?s daughter Alta Rockefeller Prentice (1871-1962) and her husband, noted New York Republican Party official Ezra Parmelee Prentice (1863-1955), with a cut business card bearing a partial inscription: ? [PARME]LEE PRENTICE / 5 West 53rd Street.? Prentice married Rockefeller?s daughter Alta Rockefeller Prentice in 1901, and this photograph descended to their daughter Mary Adeline Prentice Gilbert (1907 ? 1981) and her husband Benjamin Davis Gilbert (1907 ? 1992).

Bennet, S. EmilyThe Talking Toys London.: Ernest Nister., 1857. London. Ernest Nister. 1857. Bound in 1/2 cloth and coated pictorial boards depicting a sleepimg child watched over by fairies to front cover. Decorated endsheets. Square 8vo. First Edition. Splendidly illustrated with 12 full page Victorian chromolithographic plates and further by monochrome drawings, vignettes, decorations, etc en texte. Covers and spine mildly rubbed. Corners bumped. Contents somewhat mildly shaken but extremely firm and tight. The majority of monochrome illustrations have been hand coloured, presumably by a fairly talented child. Most of this colouring is quite deftly executed although there are several examples of a less practiced hand. Overall this coloring is quite unobtrusive and often pleasant. Several pages present small chips to corner. A Very Good, bright copy of this most desireable and elusive Victorian title.Featured Children.

George CatlinLetters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians Willis P. Hazard 1857 - Two volumes. Dark brown gilt cloth, illustrated, frontispiece with tissue guard. Volume 1: cloth chipped at head and tail of spine (top of spine missing a few spine label letters, some cloth worn and missing from hinges, corners and board edges slightly worn. Volume 2: cloth chipped at head and tail of spine (top of spine missing tops of two spine label letters, some cloth worn and missing from hinges, corners and board edges slightly worn. 402; 403-792pp., appendix, some illustrations and portraits with tissue guards, owner's name stamps on ffep's, One hundred and fifty illustrations on Steel and Wood. bindings tight, some foxing, original cloth slipcase in very good condition. Full refund if not satisfied. Howes C241 [Attributes: Hard Cover]

LIVINGSTONE, DavidMissionary Travels and Researches in South Africa; London: John Murray, 1857. London: John Murray,, 1857. including a Sketch of Sixteen Years&#39; Residence in the Interior of Africa, and a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loanda on the West Coast; thence across the Continent, down the River Zambezi, to the Eastern Ocean. Octavo (222 × 135 mm) Recent dark brown quarter leather, moiré cloth boards, title gilt to the spine. Folding frontispiece and 22 other plates, illustrations to the text, 3 folding maps, one of them in an end-pocket. Some browning, mostly marginal, and occasional marginal finger-soiling, but overall, a very good copy in a perfectly presentable modern binding, the spine of the original cloth has been backed with leather and is loosely inserted as a cunningly-crafted page-marker. First edition, this copy conforming to Bradlow&#39;s Variant No. 7, frontispiece, plate 8 and 17 wood-cuts by Whymper; the ads in this copy are dated November 1, 1857. "Missionary Travels &#133; covers the first of Livingstone&#39;s three major expeditions, in which he followed the Zambezi, discovering Victoria Falls in the process, as well as the Shire and Ruyuma rivers, ranging from Angola in the west to Mozambique in the east ... perhaps the greatest of the African explorers... Livingstone&#39;s services to African geography... are almost unequalled. During these years he explored vast regions of central Africa, many of which had never been seen by white men before" (PMM).

Shelley, Percy Bysshe and Edited by Mrs. ShelleyThe Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley [Three Volume Set - In Zaehnsdorf Binding] Edward Moxon, London 1857 - 16mo, Gilt lettered and decorated covers and spines. All edges gilt. Binding signed by Zaehnsdorf Bindery. Nice little set. Gilt inner dentelle. Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 - 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as amongst the finest lyric poets in the English language. A radical in his poetry as well as his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition for his poetry grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a close circle of visionary poets and writers that included Lord Byron; Leigh Hunt; Thomas Love Peacock; and his own second wife, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Shelley is perhaps best known for such classic poems as Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, Music, When Soft Voices Die, The Cloud and The Masque of Anarchy. His other major works include long, visionary poems such as Queen Mab (later reworked as The Daemon of the World), Alastor, The Revolt of Islam, Adonaïs, the unfinished work The Triumph of Life; and the visionary verse dramas The Cenci (1819) and Prometheus Unbound (1820). Shelley became an idol of the next three or four generations of poets, including important Victorian and Pre- Raphaelite poets such as Robert Browning and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He was admired by Oscar Wilde, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, W. B. Yeats, Karl Marx, Upton Sinclair and Isadora Duncan. Henry David Thoreau's civil disobedience was apparently influenced by Shelley's non-violence in protest and political action. [Attributes: Hard Cover]

Millard FillmoreìDesirous of readingî it, Millard Fillmore asks Hamilton Fish for a copy ìof the Opinions of the Supreme Court in the case of Dred Scottÿî Buffalo, [New York]: , March 28, 1857 Autograph Letter Signed ìMillard Fillmore,î 1p, 5î x 8î, Buffalo, March 28, 1857. To Hon. Hamilton Fish. Integral leaf, docketed on verso, tipped to a card. Fine condition.In full, ìPerceiving that the Senate ordered some extra copies of the Opinions of the Supreme Court in the case of Dred Scott to be printed & being desirous of reading the whole, may I ask the favor of a copy if you have one to spare.îDred Scott was a slave in Missouri. From 1833-1843, he resided in Illinois (a free state) and in an area of the Louisiana Territory, where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After returning to Missouri, Scott sued unsuccessfully in the Missouri courts for his freedom, claiming that his residence in free territory made him a free man.The Supreme Court decision, Dred Scott v. Sandford, was issued on March 6, 1857. Delivered by Chief Justice Roger Taney, the 7-2 opinion declared that slaves were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. In addition, the Court declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. In 1851, President Fillmore appointed Benjamin R. Curtis to the Supreme Court; it was his only Supreme Court appointment. Curtis was one of the two Justices voting for Dred Scott. Millard Fillmore personally opposed slavery, but as President (1850-1853), he saw the Compromise of 1850 as necessary to preserve the Union and enforced its strong Fugitive Slave Act which enacted strict provisions for returning runaway slaves to their owners. Former Whig Governor of New York, Hamilton Fish had served in the U.S. Senate from December 1, 1851 to March 3, 1857. He was against the spread of slavery.The Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.

Howard, Benjamin C.:REPORT OF THE DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THE OPINIONS OF THE JUDGES THEREOF, IN THE CASE OF DRED SCOTT VERSUS JOHN F.A. SANDFORD. Washington. 1857. - 239pp. Original printed wrappers, spine neatly repaired. Contemporary ownership inscription of Benjamin Dole Bryent of Webster, Maine. Four pages of contemporary manuscript notes pasted into rear of volume. Some tanning to text leaves. In a half morocco box, very good. The Washington printing, apparently issued at the same time as the New York edition, of the decision in the landmark case, Dred Scott vs. Sandford. This case demonstrated the extreme pro-slavery position of the Court and helped to precipitate the Civil War. Dred Scott, a slave who lived in Rock Island, Illinois and Fort Snelling, Wisconsin, both places where slavery was prohibited, sued for his freedom in 1846. The Supreme Court's decision against Scott exacerbated feelings between the North and South and seriously diminished the Court's credibility in the North. SABIN 33240. HOWES S218. GROLIER 100, 68. MARTIN SALE 2524 (ref).

KLAPROTH, Heinrich Julius vonCarte de la Chine dressée d&#39;après les matériaux Chinois les plus authentiques par J. Klaproth avec l&#39;indication des cinq ports ouverts aux Européens Benjamin Duprat, 1857. Benjamin Duprat, 1857. unbound. near fine. Case map on linen in 12 sections with paper case. Steel engraving with original hand coloring. 28.5 x 24.5". Detailed map of China and Tibet including part of the Gobi desert. The map lists the opening of five major ports under the treaty of Nanking: Canton, Chang-Hai, Ninig-Pho, Fou Tcheou and Amoy which are highlighted in red. Also listed is Hong Kong being taken over by the English and Macao taken over by the Portuguese. There is a key to 18 different provinces and a demarcation of the Miao Tsu independent tribal territories in red. The map is in excellent condition and comes with a marble case. Klaproth (1783-1835) was a linguist, traveller, orientalist and publisher from Berlin. His work is hard to find.

Gaskell, E. CThe Life Of Charlotte Brontë London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1857. London: Smith, Elder & Co.. Very Good+. 1857. Second Edition. Cloth. A rather charming Second Edition, published in two volumes only two months after the first and identical edition except the added "Tabby" foot note. Stamped original cloth, Very Good+ condition, minor rubbing to edges, limited traces of foxing. Vol I: viii+352; Vol II: viii+327, [1], 16 pp of ads. Smith 7; Fellow novelist and close friend Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell&#39;s posthumous biography of Charlotte Brontë, primarily based on letters exchanged with her lifelong friend Ellen Nussey. Still covered in the first two editions are numerous details of Brontë&#39;s life Gaskell was forced to remove in the third edition on the grounds that they cause harm to Brontë&#39;s family and friends .

[Rivara, Joaquim Heliodoro da Cunha (ed.)].Archivo Portuguez-Oriental. Nova-Goa (Panaji), na Imprensa Nacional, 1857-1867.. 8vo. 6 parts in 10 vols. (including supplements). Modern half calf with faux marbled covers, double giltstamped red spine labels and gilt armorial spines auf 4 raised bands.. Important collection of historical sources from the Archives of the Portuguese Government of India in Goa, edited at the behest of the Conselho ultramarina of Portugal. Joaquim da Cunha Rivara (1809-79), of Arrayolos, came to Goa in 1855 as Secretary General of Portuguese India. "Cunha Rivara lived in Goa twenty-two years, and studied not only the Archives in his charge, but also those of the 'Relacao' of the old Senate of Goa, of the Revenue Department and others. In 1857, he began the publication [...] of the documents he found, printing them [...] under the title of 'Archivo Portuguez Oriental'. Up till 1877 he succeeded in publishing six small collections and supplements, forming in all ten volumes in octavo containing royal letters to the City of Goa, to the Viceroys and Governors, and many other documents from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century" (Pope, India in Portuguese Literature [1937], p. 205). - Some browning as usual; some repairs, but altogether a fine, complete example of the original set, appealingly bound. - OCLC 34992641.

Gaskell, E. CThe Life Of Charlotte Brontë London: Smith, Elder & Co.. Very Good+. 1857. Second Edition. Cloth. A rather charming Second Edition, published in two volumes only two months after the first and identical edition except the added "Tabby" foot note. Stamped original cloth, Very Good+ condition, minor rubbing to edges, limited traces of foxing. Vol I: viii+352; Vol II: viii+327, [1], 16 pp of ads. Smith 7; Fellow novelist and close friend Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell&#39;s posthumous biography of Charlotte Brontë, primarily based on letters exchanged with her lifelong friend Ellen Nussey. Still covered in the first two editions are numerous details of Brontë&#39;s life Gaskell was forced to remove in the third edition on the grounds that they cause harm to Brontë&#39;s family and friends .